The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named Tash Whitmey and Emad Tahtouh as jury presidents at this year’s Lions Innovation, the specialist event that explores data and tech as catalysts for creativity.
Tahtouh, director of applied technology at Finch and president of the Innovation Lions jury, said that he was “looking forward to Cannes this year with a nervous anticipation and excitement as to how the creative world has either further developed or utilized technologies.”
Tahtouh continued, “While technology continues to grow at an exponential rate, so too do the creative executions that either support or utilize them. In the last 12 months we have witnessed yet another technology explosion in various areas. VR/360 Film, Wearables, Biotech, Electric Vehicles, amongst many more, continue to boom and become more and more powerful each day. I am confident that this year the jury will set a new benchmark for what our industry considers true innovation.”
The Creative Data Lions have evolved for 2016. New categories have been included to recognize smart problem-solving through the creative use of data, including Data-Driven Targeting and Business-to-Business Data Solution.
Tash Whitmey, CEO, Havas helia, commented, “As the role of data in marketing becomes more widely known and accepted, welcomed even, we need to celebrate but also provide guidance to an industry that begins to understand how data can effectively help as part of the creative process. It’s clear to me that data is the future of marketing. As such, the jury need to look for brilliant examples of how data has been used to inform and inspire creativity in a way that delivers insightful and helpful solutions, with business changing results.”
Lions Innovation takes place across June 21-22. A two day Festival of technology, data and start-up focused content will be drawn to a close by the Awards Ceremony which will see both presidents reveal and honor this year’s winners. Philip Thomas, CEO, Lions Festivals, said it was clear that Emad and Tash have a “strong grasp on the realities of their industries” and as such it would be a definitive year for the Innovation and Creative Data Lions.
Cannes Lions has now opened for entries, accepting submissions in all 23 categories.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More